Tensegrity tower wins Santiago radio tower competition
A team of architects Smiljan Radic, Gabriela Medrano, and Ricardo Serpell has designed a stunning tensegrity tower for their winning submission for a new radio antenna/public landmark in Santiago, Chile. While they take inspiration for the design from a number of sources, the overriding concept for the structure is derived from Buckminster Fuller and Kenneth Snelson’s work on tensegrity structures, as can be seen in the images below:
Smiljan Radic, Gabriela Medrano, Ricardo Serpell
Smiljan Radic, Gabriela Medrano, Ricardo Serpell
From the architects’ description:
The tower’s structure is based on the principle of tensional integrity, or tensegrity, formed by Buckminster Fuller in the mid-twentieth century. In such structures the compressed elements are embedded in a tensile network, spatially delineating the system and reversing the HABITUAL perception of a cross-linked structure.
The compressed and tensile elements are explicitly distinct, giving dynamic formal possibilities to their rotation and height, despite the fact that these elements are standard in their measurements.
Smiljan Radic, Gabriela Medrano, Ricardo Serpell
Smiljan Radic, Gabriela Medrano, Ricardo Serpell
Read more at ArchDaily
This also brings to mind about another recent application of tensegrity principles, the Super Ball Bot currently undergoing NASA-funded research for a potential landing on other planets.